QRG Capital Management Inc. Boosts Holdings in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 7.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 26,699 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,954 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $1,976,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 62.6% during the third quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. now owns 387 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares during the period. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab during the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Planning Capital Management Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab during the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab during the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.38% of the company’s stock.

Charles Schwab Trading Up 1.6 %

NYSE SCHW opened at $79.71 on Monday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $78.37 and a 200 day simple moving average of $73.67. The Charles Schwab Co. has a one year low of $61.01 and a one year high of $84.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $141.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.66, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.47 and a quick ratio of 0.47.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.11. Charles Schwab had a return on equity of 18.20% and a net margin of 30.31%. The company had revenue of $5.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.19 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.68 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a $0.27 dividend. This is an increase from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.12%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SCHW has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Charles Schwab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Redburn Partners dropped their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $94.00 price target (up previously from $84.00) on shares of Charles Schwab in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Arun Sarin sold 8,548 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.82, for a total value of $699,397.36. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 18,617 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,523,242.94. The trade was a 31.47 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Chairman Walter W. Bettinger sold 464,629 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.91, for a total value of $38,057,761.39. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 827,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $67,770,450.07. The trade was a 35.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 487,820 shares of company stock valued at $39,938,849 over the last ninety days. 6.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Charles Schwab

The Charles Schwab Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a savings and loan holding company that provides wealth management, securities brokerage, banking, asset management, custody, and financial advisory services in the United States and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Investor Services and Advisor Services.